Saudi Arabia and the UAE are reaching for the clouds, but will the recent coronavirus pandemic and economic slowdown send their foreign policy ambitions plummeting back to Earth?
UAE
Saudi Arabia wants to use the coronavirus pandemic to put the costly fiasco of the Yemen war behind it - and save face in the process. The Houthis, on the other hand, now feel their time has come.
Putin’s visit to Riyadh and Abu Dhabi in mid-October demonstrated the full magnitude of Russia’s prestige in the region and cemented Moscow’s position as a leading power in the Middle East. But what is the Kremlin’s realistic clout in the Gulf?
If Saudi Arabia and its allies can’t get their recalcitrant neighbour to budge, does that mean Qatar won the blockade crisis? It’s a tempting conclusion, but the reality of interconnectedness in the Gulf paints a different picture.
Nihel Chabrak of the United Arab Emirates University talks about efforts to advance the UAE's knowledge economy.